Simple Mistake-potentially Huge Problem

This is a discussion on Simple Mistake-potentially Huge Problem within the Concealed Carry Issues & Discussions forums, part of the Defensive Carry Discussions category; UPDATE: Man suspected of carrying gun on campus expected to turn himself in
UPDATE: Man suspected of carrying gun on campus expected to turn himself ...

Simple Mistake-potentially Huge Problem

UPDATE: Man suspected of carrying gun on campus expected to turn himself in
Middle Georgia College reopens after lockdown
By Jennifer Burk - jburk@macon.com

Woody Marshall, The Telegraph
Middle Georgia College was back to normal Monday afternoon after being locked down for part of the morning.A Cochran man suspected of carrying a gun on Middle Georgia College's campus has turned himself in to police, Middle Georgia College Police Chief Marshall Boan said.

Lee James Baggs III, 23, turned himself into the Bleckley County Sheriff's Office shortly before 5 p.m. and was transferred to the Middle Georgia College police department, Boan said.

Initial reports from the Cochran police department, Bleckley County Sheriff's Office and Middle Georgia College said that the suspect had been taken into custody around noon, however that was not the case.

Baggs is being charged with having a firearm on school grounds, a felony offense, Boan said.

Baggs has told police he has a permit for the gun, which officials are verifying, Boan said. Georgia law prohibits carrying a weapon on a college campus.

At about 9:30 a.m., Middle Georgia police received reports that a man was spotted with a firearm on campus. The campus was locked down as authorities searched room by room for the man.

During the lockdown, police located a woman on campus who knew who the suspect was, Boan said. The information was turned over the the Bleckley County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office then contacted Baggs' family who said he had been on campus to trade vehicles with his brother, an employee at the college, Boan said. Baggs' father is a deputy with the Bleckley County Sheriff's Office.

Lancaster told Boan that "everything was fine," and the college could call off the lockdown and resume normal operations, Boan said.

The lockdown was lifted at about noon.

Both Boan and Lancaster said there was never any criminal intent.

"He was never a threat to anyone," Lancaster said. "He never should of had a gun on campus to begin with. It was one of these things where he didn't think about what he was doing and just realized at the last minute he's got this gun in a car. He made a stupid mistake."

umm.....if it was in his car....how did someone else see it? Also, if it was in his car, why did they do a room-to-room search, instead of looking for the car. I'm not seeing how they went from "man on campus with a gun" to "it was in his car"--something is missing.

It is too bad.
I must say that it is our responsibility to know where we can and cannot carry or possess firearms. It seems to me that firearms on college campuses have had so much press that one would have to be numb to ignore or forget it.

sigguy229
umm.....if it was in his car....how did someone else see it? Also, if it was in his car, why did they do a room-to-room search, instead of looking for the car. I'm not seeing how they went from "man on campus with a gun" to "it was in his car"--something is missing.

He was there to switch vehicles with his brother, a campus employee, and was in/out and gone before LE showed up.

This looks to be an honest, unfortunate mistake. I'd imagine there will be some stiff consequences. Hopefully it will serve as a lesson to others to always triple check your carry/concealment and to be ever mindful of where you are.

My question is pretty simple. What specifically is it about a College Campus that makes a firearm, any firearm, so potentially dangerous there? The average age of folks on the property is over 18. It's not a Federal Building. There aren't large amounts of cash or a disappropriate number of children around. I just can't grasp why the regulations & statues seem to view a gun on a College Campus like you've smuggled one into a prison for an escape attempt.

In the late 70's I attended a major state university & shot on the Rifle Team (NCAA Smallbore). We regularly took our (cased) Match Rifles to our dorm rooms the night before a road trip to save everyone an early trip to the armory the next morning before leaving. Neither our coach, the school administration or we team members thought a thing about it. Not one team member ever went crazy & began a murderous spree with their Anschutz Super Match 52. Today, something that seemingly simple would cause a media uproar, be an instant Class-Action lawsuit (filed against the team, coach & school), and get you booked at the Police Station & on Oprah!

My question is pretty simple. What specifically is it about a College Campus that makes a firearm, any firearm, so potentially dangerous there? The average age of folks on the property is over 18. It's not a Federal Building. There aren't large amounts of cash or a disappropriate number of children around. I just can't grasp why the regulations & statues seem to view a gun on a College Campus like you've smuggled one into a prison for an escape attempt.

In the late 70's I attended a major state university & shot on the Rifle Team (NCAA Smallbore). We regularly took our (cased) Match Rifles to our dorm rooms the night before a road trip to save everyone an early trip to the armory the next morning before leaving. Neither our coach, the school administration or we team members thought a thing about it. Not one team member ever went crazy & began a murderous spree with their Anschutz Super Match 52. Today, something that seemingly simple would cause a media uproar, be an instant Class-Action lawsuit (filed against the team, coach & school), and get you booked at the Police Station & on Oprah!

He's being treated as a criminal because of people's fears and a statute that allows punative action to salve those fears, not due to any overt criminal action in which he engaged. That's the sad reality of such inane laws.

The old sheriff was attending an awards dinner when a lady commented on his wearing his sidearm. 'Sheriff, I see you have your pistol. Are you expecting trouble?' 'No Ma'am. If I were expecting trouble, I would have brought my rifle.'

It might have been a long gun, not a handgun, and the car-to-car transfer done in a VERY visible way. He failed to think at all about the on-campus prohibitions. Hopefully it's a misdemeanor, not a felony.